


The Shake Shack

by user_name



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, Magic & Dreams, Milkshakes, Romance, Surreal, bizarre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 06:55:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17955716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/user_name/pseuds/user_name
Summary: Kyungsoo’s dream man was created by the stars.





	The Shake Shack

It started with the man in the red necktie, the sound loud and self-satisfied in the quiet restaurant, and spread to the other tables like wildfire. Kyungsoo shook, his face flushed under the candlelight of his untouched Italian dinner.  _Please. Stop._ He felt a headache coming on and turned to Seungho, sitting across all smart and handsome in a crisp suit and tie and currently looking down at his lap. The tips of his ears were red.

“Seungho, I thought—”

Seungho didn’t look up but began to shake his head at the breadcrumbs he had littered onto the table. He had been a mess throughout the whole meal, twiddling his fork and dropping his butter knife twice, and Kyungsoo had thought maybe it was just the nerves, that maybe Seungho was planning a special surprise after the news of Kyungsoo’s job offer in New York, so of course Kyungsoo just had to ask, “Is something wrong?” while holding back a stupid grin. They had been dating for five years. Popping the question in this quiet, fancy setting seemed like a very Seungho thing to do.

But Seungho had just hung his head and sighed, mumbling, “I’m sorry, I-I can’t do this,” as if he was still struggling to swallow that giant meatball he had choked on earlier. “I feel like your job is more important to you than I am and you don’t seem to care—”

Kyungsoo had felt his heart drop into his shoes. “Are you serious? Seungho, I do!” Tears began to prick at the corners of his eyes. Shock, it was just the shock of it all. He wasn’t usually one to cry. From somewhere behind him, a man in a red necktie interpreted his distress as tears of joy.

Seungho stayed silent as the entire restaurant erupted in applause, didn’t even bother to stop or look up at the people standing up and beginning to crowd around them, hot and stifling in their terrible curiosity, or the waiter who rushed over with a decadent tiramisu cake. “On the house for the lucky couple,” the waiter said, his face grinning and elated among the crowd and then confused as Kyungsoo pushed past him with a wobbly, teary expression and ran out crying, whipping past the flapping glass doors and into the cool, pouring rain of the parking lot. The stars were out. He was alone.

 

  * ┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈•



 

 “Miss independent, miss self-sufficient, miss keep your distance…”

The rain was coming down hard, the unfamiliar winding road beginning to look like a gaping tunnel in the darkness. “Miss-never-let-a-man help her off her phone,” Kyungsoo sang along brokenly before shutting the radio off. The signal was wonky. He blinked rapidly, wanting nothing more than somewhere to lie down and cry; he hated how hot his face was starting to feel from holding back tears.

He drove in silence for what felt like hours, until his butt became numb and the repetitive pavement markings lulled him into a sort of trance. The side of the road was dark and empty save for the crunch of gravel and the occasional deserted car, so it wasn’t until he was a red-eyed, hiccupping mess that he saw it.

Something in the distance was blinking, a flash of neon shrouded in purple mist. Kyungsoo slowed to a cautious crawl. The fog was thinner now, and he could finally make out the words to the neon sign, bright in the window of a little pink store surrounded by barren trees. ‘The Shake Shack.’ ‘Gas $1.50.’ ‘Broken souls welcome.’

 _Bizarre. But one fifty for gas? Count me in._ The light from the windows looked warm and cheery, like a place where you could buy retro sweets by the penny. Kyungsoo parked by the old gas pumps, took a few shaky deep breaths as he wiped his eyes, and stepped inside.

The place was lively, with a dozen or so people sitting around in lounge chairs or at the bar chatting to waiters in red and yellow aprons. That was odd; he hadn’t remembered seeing any cars parked outside.

Suddenly, a whoosh of red and yellow flew by and made Kyungsoo jump. It was a waiter on roller skates, spinning towards him in a dancy whirl. “Hi, welcome! I’m Jongin and I’ll be your waiter today. How may I take your order?” Jongin was smiling, a towering tray of milkshakes balanced impressively on one hand. He had sweet brown eyes and a boyish grin that made Kyungsoo feel like he had seen him somewhere before, maybe as a model in a magazine or something. Kyungsoo’s stomach did a confused flip flop _._

“Oh, hi, um—is there a menu?”

“Sure. Would you like a seat at the bar?”

“Oh. Okay.” Kyungsoo could feel his ears redden. He felt like an idiot already.  _Damn it._

“How about our peachy cream bubble shake? It comes with cherries—special, for Heartbreak Thursday.” Jongin smiled again, and this time Kyungsoo swore he winked. At this point, Kyungsoo was convinced that his own face resembled a tomato.

“I—that sounds good.”

“Great!” Jongin sped off in a flash, leaving Kyungsoo to swing his legs and awkwardly rub at his neck. He tried to look outside but the windows were black and obscured by the reflections of the Shake Shack’s hanging lights. With the way the lights twinkled, it almost looked as if a galaxy of golden stars was floating just outside the window.

A few minutes later, Jongin came by with the tallest, fanciest milkshake swirl Kyungsoo had ever seen. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened into moons as he swallowed a spoonful. “Mmm! It’s  _fluffy_!”

“Good, right?

“Yes!” Kyungsoo sighed and practically melted into his bar stool. This place was positively dreamy.

“Hey, you want to see something even better?” Kyungsoo thought he saw a mischievous glint in Jongin’s eyes. He was being very smiley. “I want to show you something,” he said, grabbing Kyungsoo’s wrist and leading him past the bar to a plain red hallway. Kyungsoo supposed he should have felt apprehensive, but then an excited giggle bubbled past Jongin’s lips and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but to follow along as Jongin bounced on the balls of his feet, excited. The only door in the hallway was labeled as a bathroom. Jongin opened it to reveal a set of red curtains.

“What are you…” Kyungsoo trailed off as Jongin swept aside the curtains with a magician’s flourish.

“Wow,” Kyungsoo gasped, stepping past the curtains to crane his neck up at arched ceilings, smooth oak floorboards, shelves and shelves of skates lining the walls. They had entered the largest roller derby rink Kyungsoo had ever seen. “This place is like a hockey stadium! How—?” Kyungsoo turned to Jongin with wide eyes. Jongin just laughed and tossed him a box from the closest shelf.

“Here, hope they fit.”

A few minutes later, Jongin was flying around the rink while Kyungsoo trailed behind, wobbling like a baby giraffe.

“Woo!” Jongin pumped his arms in the air and grabbed Kyungsoo by the wrists to skate with him in tow.

Kyungsoo’s ankles shook, his life flashing before his eyes. “Wait—I don’t—I have weak ankles and I’ve never done this before—”

Jongin pouted. “You have beautiful ankles, Soo. And don’t you trust me?”

“Beautiful ankles? That’s ridiculous. What does that have to do with falling and breaking a hip?” Kyungsoo spluttered. Jongin’s eyes were a honey brown under the old tungsten bulbs lining the ceiling. Kyungsoo felt that warm sense of familiarity again.

“But do you trust me?”

Kyungsoo sighed. “Sure. Yes, yes I do.”

Jongin smiled—a deep, genuine smile that reached the corners of his eyes. Before Kyungsoo could squeak, Jongin picked him up by the waist and threw him into the air so that Kyungsoo was suspended above the rink, a heartbeat frozen in time, watching Jongin’s waiting arms beneath him extend outwards in slow motion.

Then he was yelping as the spell broke and everything came rushing back towards him. Jongin laughed as Kyungsoo plopped ungracefully back into his arms. “Want to do that again?”

Kyungsoo shook his head and grumbled, making a show of being disgruntled, trying to show Jongin that he wanted to go back to the railing by tugging him to the edge of the rink on wobbly knees. Jongin smelled faintly of honey and wood smoke and his chest was warm. Kyungsoo didn’t want to let go. His ears felt hot again. “I think I’ll finish my milkshake first.”

Jongin seemed to stiffen, and then the moment was gone. He held the hug for a second longer—if Kyungsoo didn’t know better he would have sworn Jongin nuzzled into his neck a little—before drawing back and nodding.

Kyungsoo savoured the last spoonful, feeling the creamy bubbles whipped into the milk fizz as they dissolved on his tongue and filled his nose with the sweet scent of cherry—a heady, cloying scent that made his limbs and eyelids feel heavy, tingly, and warm. Vaguely, he thought Jongin seemed to be watching him with an unusual intensity. It made him want to squirm. Then his head spun, and the room melted into darkness.

 

  * ┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈•



 

Kyungsoo woke to an empty bed.  _His_ bed. Seungho’s side was cold.  _Seungho_. Kyungsoo sat up in a flurry of frantic sheets, his heart racing. In the rush of blood that entered his head as he sat up, snapshots of untouched eighty dollar spaghetti, applause as if from a twisted laugh track, and a slow, sleepy feeling of warmth flashed through his mind. Soothing, familiar brown eyes.  _Jongin._ Kyungsoo felt a lurch of guilt in his chest. That had been a dream, right? It had to be. But somehow, it still felt like he had cheated; Seungho hadn’t crossed his mind once.

But if it  _was_ a dream, how had he gotten home? Had he actually driven home and not remembered it? This was making his head spin. He needed to talk to Seungho.

 

  * ┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈•



 

“Please pick up, please pick up…yes! I mean, hi.”

“Fuck off, Kyungsoo. I’m at work and I already told you I’m over it. Wasn’t last night enough? Do you ever take a fucking hint? Delete my number.”

“But—”

“Delete it.”

 _Click._ The dial tone droned on in Kyungsoo’s ear. For a second, he just sat on the bed, blinking. Then he slowly crawled back under the covers, swallowing an unhappy little sob that turned into a lump in his throat. When had Seungho become so mad at him? When had he become so cold?

 _Might as well sleep the afternoon away._ Kyungsoo’s eyes drifted shut.  _Someone to cuddle now would be nice._ His mind slipped into the inviting darkness.

  * ┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈•



 

Kyungsoo blinked. He spotted familiar oak floors and stacks upon stacks of boxes. Across the skate rink, Jongin was sorting shoes. “Kyungsoo?” Jongin looked like he had seen a ghost. “What are you doing here?”

Kyungsoo looked down at his feet and felt the sob he had repressed earlier threatening to bubble back up. “I’m just—can I get a hug?”

Jongin ran over. Instantly, Kyungsoo was smothered in the warm smell of smoked honey. “What’s wrong?”

“My boyfriend broke up with me.”

“What? Why?”

“Well he’s a small town boy. Hates the city. He said I care more about my job than him because I want to move to New York for work.” Kyungsoo could feel the tears welling up again. He felt stupid. “And he was really mad at me.” He swallowed. “He told me to fuck off. I guess I called too many times while he was at work, but…it hurts.”

“Oh.” Jongin hugged him tighter, so tightly it almost hurt. Kyungsoo looked down to see Jongin’s knuckles were white around his waist. “Well, he sounds like a jerk.”

Kyungsoo laughed with a sniffle. “Jongin, are you a city boy?”

Jongin froze. “Are you saying...?”

“You didn’t answer my question. Are you?” Kyungsoo asked, trying to hide a wall of uncertainty behind a flirtatious tone.

“I don’t know, I’ve never left this place. It’s never even crossed my mind.” He paused, his voice soft. “But I would, if you wanted me to.”

Kyungsoo only stared, his eyes wide and uncertain.

Jongin sighed and looked down at his shoes. “I don’t know if I should be telling you this, or maybe you’ll think I’m crazy, but—how do I say this—this place doesn't exist in reality; only people looking for love can find it. Like all the waiters in this place, I’m just a spirit made of stardust, here to ease the pain of recent breakups so heartbroken souls can move on with their lives. I don’t even think I’m alive. But that doesn’t really matter.” Jongin nudged him, gently. "You should get home soon, Soo. It's getting dark."

Kyungsoo smacked Jongin’s chest, but there was no real strength behind it. Jongin was blabbering now, and though it didn’t make sense, Kyungsoo supposed weirder things had happened in his dreams before. “I know you’re not real! I know I fell asleep to find you, so you’re literally my—” Kyungsoo turned red, but kept going—“my dream man! But I’ll be able to see you again, right? I can just drift off at night to find you?” Kyungsoo clung to Jongin’s arms like a koala. He felt so vulnerable all of a sudden. If Jongin was a spirit, couldn’t he dissolve into smoke? Couldn’t he disappear?

“There’s no guarantee—we usually don’t get repeat customers. Our boss takes pride in mending most broken hearts the first time, and she’s pretty unpredictable when it comes to which customers she lets in. Hmm.” Kyungsoo noticed that Jongin pouted when he was concentrating.  _Cute._ Then his jaw set in determination. “But I think I know something that will work.”

 

  * ┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈•



 

The Shake Shack’s kitchen was a small, cozy thing. A cheery, plump little woman with ruddy cheeks and cotton candy hair was bustling about, sorting through jars. Kyungsoo’s eyes widened as he saw little puffs of glitter and tiny fireworks spark out of the uncapped ones.

Jongin gestured widely. “Waiters here go through a special training process where we learn how to clean glasses of grief and despair, how to whip cream out of warmth and luck, stuff like that. And,” he said, tapping the woman on the shoulder, “this is my boss, Ms. Celestia.”

She turned around with a smile. “Hi dearies! Is the universe not treating you right? What’s wrong?”

Jongin twisted his hands restlessly. “If a spirit were to somehow maybe want to visit the human world, would that be possible? And-and be visible there, like as a human.”

“Turn you human? Oh, I think you’re already there, honey.” Kyungsoo saw a strange fire in her eyes. Not hostile, but not soft either. Bright, powerful. She snapped two stubby fingers and a crackle of green lit up between the lines in her palm. Jongin jumped. Kyungsoo’s ears popped. All around them, blenders and cookie jars and drawers flew out of their cabinets and disintegrated into dust. Space rocks. Suspended powder.

Celestia exploded into a ball of light and the walls and ceiling melted and warped into nothingness. Their disappearance revealed the stars and galaxies and planets floating around them and suddenly Kyungsoo couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move without flailing. He was lost in space.

Out of nowhere, strong arms tackled Kyungsoo in a hug and weighed him down deeper into space, where Earth, no bigger than a marble, spun freely.  _Jongin_. He was clinging onto Kyungsoo for dear life as they hurtled through emptiness and fell, fell, fell through a layer of stars, a covering of clouds, and into a haze of blue. The world rushed up to meet them.

 

  * ┈┈••✦ ♡ ✦••┈┈┈•



 

Kyungsoo sat up with a start. His heart, which had been pumping into overdrive, was now calming down as he recognized the familiar walls of his room. The sunlight was pouring in gold through his blinds, and his eyes followed the light to see a dip in the bed. Then the bed shifted, and Kyungsoo looked to see warm brown eyes smiling back at him.

Jongin met his gaze mid-stretch. “Hey,” he said softly, sheepishly. “I know you thought it was a dream. I scared you, didn’t I? I’m sorry. Should I go?”

Kyungsoo reached out to hold his hand. It was warm. Solid. “Stay.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! You can rant with me about kaisoo here: I’m [@_Jazzine](https://mobile.twitter.com/_Jazzine) on Twitter and [@jazzine_art](https://www.instagram.com/jazzine_art/)  
> on insta hehe  
> AFF: [Jazzine](https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1021152)  
> 


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